Quantity of Swords

[imac1184]

Hey All,

I am going to plant up my 72g with only swords.

Echinodorus blehri and Echinodorus sp. "ozelot".

Any thoughts on how many of each?

I know they can get pretty big, and I would like to leave a good amount of open space.

Thanks in advance!

[judy]

Mine get almost two feet across and two feet high if left unpruned. I have a 78 gallon, had three of the suckers, sold off two, and the remaining one takes up almost a third of the tank-- and I sell plants off it, since it constantly sends out runners with plantlets that stretch out across the tank.
If you plant only swords, you will have lots of open substrate, but you will only have room for three full-sized ones and they will take up a lot of space.

[pcsb23]

E.bleheri grow higher than E.Ozelot, two or three if you want them full height. I've had 7 or 8 E.Bleheri in a high tech of about the same size before, lots of pruning and very dense growth :)

[imac1184]

My goal has been to have a tank similar to this one:

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=514&op=showcase&category=0&vol=3&id=141

It is hard to get a feel since that tank is so much larger than mine.

I will keep the height factor in mind, thanks you two.

[Darrell Ward]

My goal has been to have a tank similar to this one:

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=514&op=showcase&category=0&vol=3&id=141

It is hard to get a feel since that tank is so much larger than mine.

I will keep the height factor in mind, thanks you two.


Ah yes! Many people have drooled over pictures of that tank for several years now. It would be interesting to know what became of that tank. If it's still running, and what it looks like now.

[GrillMaster]

You can definately do alot with a 375G tank!! :D :D

Amazon swords can out grow a 75G pretty quick.

These pics might give ya a lil idea of what the swords would look like in yours. Its a 75G with basically 3 Amazon sword plants. One big plant on the right a 2 on the left. The second pic is the same plants just thinned out.

[Darrell Ward]

You might consider Echinodorus bleheri "compacta". A dwarf form of bleheri that stays much smaller. I think it would work much better in a smaller tank like a 75, and you would still get the "sword" look. :)

[born2lovefish]

I have 5 in my 75 gallon.

[happygirl65]

It should be mentioned that they can take a long time to grow to this gigantic size unless you have high light levels :) So how many depends on whether they are baby plants, or mature mother plants. One large sword fills up half of my 46 gal tank but I have another 10-15 smaller immature amazons that came from it. And they are growing but slowly. (It would help if I had them in with more than pool filter sand but that is what I have for now)

In the picture you referenced it looked to me like there were 6 large mature amazon swords in the back. Gorgeous reference by the way. :) If you want to mimic that in a 72 gallon with mature plants I would put three on one side leave that small gap and then put one on the other. :) Just my opinion.

[Apistomaster]

Two potted E. bleheri fill my 75 gallon Heckel Discus tank.
I haven't tried the "E. bleheri "compacta" but I suspect it is actually E. parviflora var "Tropica".
A dead ringer for E. bleheri but much smaller. I consider it to be a fine plant. It is especially good in an all Amazon Sword tank as an intermediate size plant or for smaller tanks, it makes a good center piece for a twenty gallon or slightly smaller tank. This variety is a very good producer. I haven't seen runners but it will frequently divide and allow you to split off new plants.

One hybrid Sword plant that does send out runners and is another good intermediate sword is Kleiner Bar. It has oval leaves like Ozelot and under bright lighting, it develops a nice rich red-brown color so it is an excellent plant for contrast. It is more expensive but it makes up for it in productivity of runners. It doesn't take long to be self sufficient or even have extras to trade.

[Wahter]

Kleiner Bar is an easy to keep sword plant, but I think the tank that imac1184 wants to copy (albeit on a smaller scale) specifically chose swords that would be mainly green in color and contrast with the driftwood.

Here's a photo of a Kleiner Bar sword that I had:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27738&d=1189353073

I've posted the sword plants which I've kept with discus on this link:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=59346


Walter

[Harriett]

I think the bleheri is just too big a plant when it matures, for this size tank--they will take over and it is a constant pruning operation to keep them in check [if conditions are good]...I had 3 in my 180 planted and ended up pulling them all, some years back. I was removing healthy strong leaves--lots of them--weekly, to keep the plants in proportion and give the other aquatics some room. The tank just looked 'stuffed' and not graceful...happy happy swords, though LOL!
The Ozelots usually don't get mammoth, but do get to a respectable size, and are gorgeous. Rubins, red flames, and the dwarf bleheri are just a few. There are several other somewhat medium sized swords that word be great in a 75 for sure.
Just my experience.
Best regards
Harriett

[Apistomaster]

Hi Harriet,
E. amazonicaus might be a good choice instead of E. bleheri. It has narrower leaves but is otherwise quite similar. It grows to approximately 2/3 as large but is still a nice large show plant that is easy to grow.
I like a decor consisting of all Amazon Swords of different species or cultivars myself.
I like to pot all my Amazon swords in Gladware food containers for a couple of reasons:
1. It confines the root ball and allows the fertilizer to be contained in the root ball where the potted plant has exclusive use of it.
2. These pots can be buried flush with the surrounding substrate so the pots are completely hidden.
3. Potted plants can be moved within the tank or to another aquarium without disturbing the root system and so the relocated plants do not experience any set backs as they do when the root systems are disturbed as they will be when planted directly in the substrate.
This allows you to rearrange the plants in their show tanks should you wish to while not setting back normal growth.

[Harriett]

Yup, Larry, I like amazonicus too--I have a small forest of them going right now that I will be thinning this weekend--we are having a Chicagoland aquatic plant club mtg Sunday and I wanted to have a bunch to trade/give away. A nice plant with a lush bright green color and I actually like the leaf size and shape very much. Got them from Polar Bear a while ago--pretty sure they're amazonicus but I trust he'll let me know if I've got the wrong name..LOL.
Best of luck, imac1184.
Harriett

[Apistomaster]

Harriet,
Then you are in good shape. All it takes to grow one to the maximum size is to pot it individually and fertilize the potting soil well. Then the plant will really grow large and fast.

[Harriett]

Larry,
Yup, they tend to do quite well given good light, ferts, CO2....easy grower, like most of the swords.

Imac1184, we kind of got derailed from your original posts so I am bringing it back here--do you have a sense of where you are going now in your sword only tank? I like the idea of it. I had crashed all the plant life in my big planted tank a while back and when I got the tank balanced again, decided to also go for a sword only tank.....didn't end up sticking to it, although it is a good 50% sword tank of varying types. The links and references to research the sword options available are endless online. Let us know if you need more help and also would love to know how it turns out for you!
Best regards
Harriett

[imac1184]

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj162/imac1184/Fish003.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj162/imac1184/Fish002.jpg

Well so I ended up getting 4 ozelots and 3 bleheri and just a bunch of dwarf sag, I figured I would start out with more and then when things get too big I could trim and/or remove them. I don't think I will be able to replicate that tank of my dreams...sigh. But hopefully this will mature alright.

I left the plants outside too long when they were delivered, got a bit cold and died around the edges, hopefully they will recover soon.

They are planted in eco-complete amazonia, with some pool sand over the top, i give them flourish excel every other day. Any other recommendations to speed recovery?

[Wahter]

They are planted in eco-complete amazonia, with some pool sand over the top, i give them flourish excel every other day. Any other recommendations to speed recovery?

Yes, if the tank is cycled, get rid of the sponge filters and pump in some CO2. It looks like you have a power filter hooked up anyway. The bubbles from the sponge filters are breaking up the surface which gases out the CO2 which plants use during the day for photosynthesis.

Here's some info on CO2:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/

Also, some of those leaves are going to die because they have been grown emersed out of water and when the plant is grown submersed under water, the plants will send out different looking underwater leaves.

Hope that helps,


Walter

[Harriett]

My Ozelots retain their brilliant markings only if I have enough iron in the water. I use FLourish iron to help with that. I dose 6ml 3 x week in my 180g and my red plants are red, ozelots and red flames look pretty good. Titrate the iron; too much I am told can spark some algae growth.
Hope this helps.
Harriett